Lifeway Church Podcast

With Us In The Wilderness

God is with us. He is with us on the mountain tops and even in the wilderness. When it seems like the season that we are going through is never going to end and we can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. When we need to hear from God but the silence is deafening. He is still with us.

With Us In The Valley

All of us have walked through a low place in our lives. These moments can be defined as a valley. Knowing that God is with us in the valley gives us courage to keep moving forward. He is with us to bring comfort and all that we need in the valley.

Overcoming Failure

Overcoming failure is a result of learning and moving forward. Every major person that God used in the Bible had major failure before they had major success. How you navigate failure will determine your future. Listen to this message to find out more...

Overcoming Fear

There is no fear in love. God is love. We were made for His presence. In the presence of God there is no fear. God created us to live in His love. Jesus died so that we could live free of fear. Jesus died so that we could live in confidence that comes from knowing Him. Listen to this message to find out more...

Overcoming Strongholds

Overcoming strongholds (toxic mindsets) in our life is done by capturing, casting down and replacing thoughts. We have to determine to change what we think on. Until you see the patterns of thinking have built up walls in your mind that influence your words and actions you will struggle in those areas. We must attend to our mind. Attend means to take care of, minister to, take charge of, watch over and guard your heart and mind. Listen to this message to find out more... 

Refreshing Through Obedience

Times in the Lord bring refreshing. In His presence we are refreshed. It’s when we are responding to His word, His leading we are changed. We gain strength from Him. We are refreshed through obedience. Listen to find out more… 

The Least of These

Jesus identifies with with the “least of these”; the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and imprisoned. He came for those who are in need and He shows us how much the Father loves every person and desires to have a relationship with them. There is no one beyond His reach and outside of His love and compassion. He calls us to reach out to the “least of these” and be a friend to them so that we can lead them to Him. Are we willing to be seen with people (and possibly associated with them) who are far from God for the purpose of leading them to Jesus?

 

 

Wearing Kindness

The impact of kindness can affect a whole city. This is what happened when Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well. She was broken and very rude when she met Jesus but as they talked she began to change. The things He said to her and the manner that He said them opened her heart and before she left her encounter with Jesus she believed that He was indeed the Son of God. She left the well and went back to tell the whole city. Everyone in the city came out to meet Jesus and they asked Him to stay and for two days many more believed on Jesus. The kindness and goodness of the love of God has the power to change lives.

How good is good enough?

People everywhere want to know how good they have to be in order to have eternal life… Just like the rich young ruler that came to Jesus one day. Everyone has questions about their purpose in this life and the possibility of a better eternity. The bottom line, Jesus is not judging them by their accomplishments or their morality, He just wants them to follow Him. Taking a look into the encounter that Jesus had with a young man can give us insight into the truth. Can we listen to people, love people and lead them to follow Jesus? This is the real issue...

Cut In Line

Have you ever been waiting in traffic and had someone zoom past and cut in the line in front of you? Did you think, “That's not fair!”, that’s our normal reaction. Sometimes it feels like those who are the least deserving get a shortcut or "fast pass" to God's grace. That’s just it, God’s grace is not fair. God freely gives us what we don’t deserve…that’s grace. He loves us in spite of our sinfulness. In a new series of messages titled Friend of Sinners, Pastor Bruce dives into the account of Zacchaeus, a wealthy tax collector, whose curiosity leads to a life-changing encounter with Jesus.

Building Your Family

Family is what God is all about. The Bible begins with a marriage (Adam and Eve) and ends with a marriage (the marriage supper of the Lamb). In between the beginning and the end is a story of a dysfunctional family that needs help from God. Understanding family is understanding how God thinks. Husband and wife are the foundation of the family. Husbands are builders and wives are watchers. We are unique in our separate roles in order to work as a team to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives. Children are the heritage of the Lord and the best gift from God. Working together as a family requires intentionality but is rewarding and it’s God’s plan.

 

 

What can I do to help you?

Learning how to think about others before thinking about ourself is always a challenge, especially in our own family. In our learning we come face to face with the principle of submission. Who is supposed to submit to whom? How does that work? And what does it look like? God has given each one of us the ability to help one another and in serving our family it really can be as simple as asking, "What can I do to help?” Discover how you really can help…listen to this message.

Blame Game

Conflict is a part of every “normal” family. Conflict happens when we blame others. How we deal with and navigate through the conflict is the key. There is a war that is raging within us because we want to get our way. We want to be heard and when challenged we want to defend ourselves. To make it through conflict (alive) we must constantly put ourselves in the other person’s place and learn to see things differently. We have to admit fault and be quick to forgive. To have peace in our family, we must become a peacemaker. A peacemaker thinks, “I’ll go first…I’ll make things right by doing the right thing…"

Ideal And Real

When you think of your family, would you consider it “ideal”? Our would it be better described as “real”? God knows that we all live in a real world with real situations and real family problems that we have to work out. This is why He has given us His grace to bridge the gap between the real and the ideal. His ideals don’t change but HIs grace empowers us to live in the real and grow into all that He wants our families to be.

 

The Why of Reconciliation

Reconciliation between races is possible. God has been waiting for us to use His love to step across every line that has divided us in the past. How did God reconcile us and does He expect us to love people that hate us, really? Watch or listen to this message to hear a “to do list” to help reconcile and restore relationships.

Is It God?

Is It God? There are many voices speaking to us all the time. God wants us to hear his voice recognize that it is Him. There are certain questions that we can ask when trying to recognize the voice of God. Find out how to recognize God’s voice by listening to this message… Is it God?

 

Why and What

Did you know that God speaks to us because He wants to have a relationship with us? And through that relationship He desires to give us direction and perspective for our lives. He wants us to walk in the steps that He has set before us and see things the way that He sees them. The things that God says to us are to encourage us, to give us direction, to warn us at times and to inspire us. We are constantly learning to tune our ears to His frequency to hear His voice more clearly. Let’s tune in today.

Born To Hear

We were born to hear the voice of God. He created us in His image so that we could fellowship with Him. Our fellowship with God involves speaking and listening. How do we hear God? and how can we be sure that He is speaking to us? Are we growing in our ability to hear His voice? Take a listen and find the answers to these questions...

Dumping Distractions

Distraction comes from the Latin root word “separate” - to pull apart, to divide. When we are distracted we are unable to focus and we become confused. We need to realize that the enemy is constantly using distractions against us to lead us down the road of sin. To overcome distractions we should set our minds on things above rather than the things that on earth constantly vying for our attention. Spending quiet time with the Lord in order to re-prioritize our life is also key. Listen and learn how to dump the distractions.

Ignoring The Sideshows

We live in a day that people plan for distractions. There is so many things that go around trying to distract us. Every where you look you can find a different sideshow to get you off. Distractions cause us to miss the plan of God. The key is keeping our eyes focused on the road ahead. Listen to find out more about ignoring the sideshows.  

Watch Where Your Going

Watch where you’re going - The very first thing that you learn when learning to drive is - keep your eyes on the road! When you don’t watch where you are going, you end up where you don’t want to be. Truly, we are living in the most distracting times ever in history. And the reasons for the distractions are many and wide-ranging but the majority of them center around the digital devices that we find ourselves attached to. You cannot clearly identify or accomplish your purpose while living your life in a state of distraction. Find out how to navigate all the distraction….listen…

Loving Like He Loves

Loving well means that we love like Jesus loves. It means that we respect God, ourselves and others. And that we look for ways to be respectful and connect with people’s heart. Daniel demonstrated “exceptional qualities” that set him apart. He stood firm on his faith and at the same time he was gentle and respectful to all those around him. Love is the key to making a lasting impact on our culture. Listen to hear ways that you can connect with more people on a daily basis.

Standing Firm

How do we stand firm in our current culture? The Bible says that Daniel was able to stand firm in a culture that was against God. Today’s culture is hiding in images and sounds. There is a strong pull to compromise. Culture is pushing you to comprise. Daniel stood firm, he took courage and defied culture. Listen to this message to find out more… 

The Babylon Mentality

Are you a thermostat or thermometer? Do you reflect the world's culture or do you influence the culture of the world around you? Babylon is not a locality, but a mentality and a spirit that influences the world today. Babylon's motto is "I am, and there is none besides me". It elevates self and dimisses God. Take a listen to Identifying Babylon Mentality.  

How To Stand Firm And Love Well

We are faced with a dilemma today. The same type of dilemma that Daniel faced in his day. We face a culture thats is increasingly going away from God. How are we to navigate this? We see that when opposing culture our faith will be tested. In these moment we must be full of grace and truth. Listen to this message to find out more…